HackB, a hackathon organized by the Sant Joan de Déu Teaching Campus, brought together more than 300 people for three days (November 29, 30 and December 1, 2023) with the aim of encouraging them to co-create creative solutions to various real problems in the health and social fields.
Identified problems:
→ Unwanted loneliness among homeless people: when we talk about homeless people, it could be said that almost all -if not all- of them, are in a situation of loneliness. They have lost absolutely everything (including self-esteem) in a long process and it is very difficult for them to rebuild their lives.
→ Negative consequences of social media use: currently there is widespread concern about the intensity of social media use (in terms of hours, devices, screens, etc.) and the consequences that arise from it, both in terms of mental health and interpersonal relationships (cyberbullying, etc.).
→ Youth as an agent of change in education and sexual health: data show that the average age of access to pornography is as early as 8 years old. This has huge impacts as they grow up with a completely distorted view of what sexual relationships are. Pornography also normalizes violent attitudes, as well as the objectification and instrumentalization of women.
→ Signs and support in youth suicide: the Suicide Observatory reports that every year the number of people who die by suicide increases, despite prevention campaigns. There is a growing trend of people presenting suicidal thoughts, which leads to more possible attempts.
Methodology:
On the first day, each team chose one of the four problems presented, and these teams gathered in a classroom specifically prepared to work on each issue. At all times, the teams received support and advice from mentors and experts who used our Method 4> 17 as a working methodology for their teams and as a facilitating tool to collaboratively detect and solve the challenges posed by each problem.
Teams had 3 days to co-create and present a solution for a context and a beneficiary profile for each of the four identified problems. Moreover, each solution had to include a digital perspective, a sense of hospitality (coherence with the person, community and planet), inclusion and gender sensitivity.
On the last day, an expert panel evaluated the proposed solutions, and a jury selected the three winning ones, which were awarded a financial prize, with the aim of enabling these early-stage solutions to continue evolving.
Our key role at Hack B was to provide prior training to the mentors on our method, so they could correctly transmit and apply it to their mentored teams. In addition, the Coboi lab team assisted the mentors on-site in case of real-time questions during the three days of the hackathon.
Teams
The participating teams were formed by combining people with different educational backgrounds, experiences and knowledge. 50% of the members of each team were 4th year nursing students from the Sant Joan de Déu Teaching Campus; the other half were young students from other areas and/or educational institutions.
Mentors and experts:
HackB had a team of mentors and experts who accompanied the teams during the process of working together to reach the best solution. Thus, the young participants were able to benefit from the experience and knowledge of professionals specialized in the specific field of each problem, while also acquiring cross-cutting knowledge in areas such as communication, innovation, business strategy and more.
Results:
- The privilege that Method 4>17 was used as a transversal methodology to articulate the work of HackB.
- Confirming, once again, the potential that our methodology has, beyond working on city challenges from the perspective of public administration. In this case, the focus was on common health challenges, through shared visions and potential solutions.
- Strenghtened relationships with other actors in the city and the territory with whom we wish to continue collaborating in future collective projects.
